Dear President of the United States,

The amount you make from a job should not be determined by your gender or any other trait, it should be determined by how hard you work. Closing the wage gap should be an imperative action because it forms equality and affects the lives of women not only in the workplace but outside as well.

Equality is a major foundation of this great nation, closing the wage gap will help equality become a true moral in this country because gender, race, religion or any other personal attribute should not matter when it comes to pay. Women make up half of the workforce, they receive more graduate and college degrees than men, yet they are paid significantly less. Women make about 80 cents for every man’s dollar, a 20% wage gap. Although this rate has gone up from the 77 cents in 2013, the gap has still not been fixed. Hardworking women all over the country are not being paid what they deserve simply because of their gender.

Unequal pay affects the earnings of women, in addition to affecting every point of their lives. After their first year of college, women earn about 82 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make. Many of these graduates are forced to take on countless loans, the wage gap makes it much harder for women to pay them off. Women are also less likely to be employed within a year after they graduate. As a result of the wage gap, women are spending more of their paycheck on paying off student debts.

On the other hand, some may believe that the reason for the wage gap is because women have different career choices than men. While in some cases this is true, in most situations it is not. When women enter the traditionally “male” fields they tend to earn less. So even if women have the exact same job as a man they will still make less. Just ask the U.S Women’s Soccer Team. It is disappointing that in 2015, 5 members of this team had to file a suit against the U.S Soccer Federation to urge for the same pay as the U.S Men’s Soccer Team. The women’s team earned about a quarter of what the men’s team made even though they produced $20 million more in revenue in addition to winning the 2015 World Cup.

Although women have made progress in the workforce from past years, it is surprising to say that today, in 2016, the wage gap still remains. This needs to change. 

Thank you,

Keena B.

Kingkade, Tyler. "Women's Pay Gap Starts Right After College, Exacerbates Student Debt: Study." The Huffington Post. N.p, 24 Oct. 2012. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.

Pearson, Catherine. "No, The Gender Pay Gap Isn’t A Myth — And Here’s Why." The Huffington Post. N.p., 12 Apr. 2016. Web. 5 Nov. 2016.

Miller, Kevin. "The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap (Fall 2016)." AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881. N.p., 19 Oct. 2016. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.